Review: Silence of the Lambs

I know that some people can't bear the unbelievable goriness of the Hannibal Lecter movies, but I have to say I totally loved watching this one. Anthony Hopkins is really superb, and so is Jodie Foster. But Hopkins really knows the ropes, he can play almost anyone, I think. It's interesting that they showed the contrast between Dr. Chilton and Hannibal; Hannibal, the allegedly "insane" doctor, is far more astute than the pompous Dr. Chilton, the little attention-grabbing SOB. And Jodie Foster had reason to be famous after that movie-- she did the whole cop-with a relationship with a psycho-really well. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the props-- obviously fake and they really took some of the scare away. And the blood looked like cranberry syrup, not like red wine reduction. Potassium thiacyanide and ferric nitrate!!! The blood was bright red, not burgundy. My favorite scene was the elevator scene, where all the cops are running around like fools only to find out Hannibal's escaped. This is a killer movie. If you haven't watched it yet, you should. Rating: 4 stars (because of the props and the blood.)

The fear of flying roaches

I know that people are leery of having roaches next to them, and with good reason. Diseases aside, I have an adverse reaction to any crawling roach I see, and that makes me want to kill it. However, flying roaches have the higher rating on my creep chart. The trouble with them is that you never know what they'll do next. Worse still, you'd hardly be able to control the direction of their flight, and they just might decide to land on you. It's really difficult to turn your head all over the place when a roach is on the ceiling, ready to fall onto your foamy hair. I've never had a peaceful time in the loo with a roach around-- especially an active one. The worst situation, though, would be one wherein a roach is roaming round the room and you've fallen asleep with a bag of food nearby. The result would be a painful sore or a swollen eye, useful for meriting taunts, jeers, and concerned inquiries. Whatever purpose they were intended for, coackroaches are agents of evil, embarrassment, and illness; but an elusive , freely locomoting roach is the worst specimen.